The Robots Took the Internet: Now They're Coming for Medicine

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George race through a very AI-heavy fortnight — from antibiotics and the menstrual cycle to whether "medical AI" is even a category worth defending.

AI and Science. A Nature feature on AI accelerating antibiotic discovery (millions of molecules screened in silico, though only a tiny fraction can actually be synthesised), paired with a UK Biobank study mapping 198 proteins that fluctuate across the menstrual cycle — reframing it as a whole-body biological rhythm, not just a reproductive one.

Do We Even Need Medical AI? A NYU study finds frontier general models outperforming purpose-built clinical tools like OpenEvidence and UpToDate — with an important caveat that no patient outcomes were measured. Paired with Apollo, Harvard's foundation model trained on 25 billion clinical events to forecast individual patient trajectories.

What If AI Makes Healthcare More Expensive? David Brailer argues in Health Affairs that AI won't lower US health costs because it amplifies the incentives already baked into the payment system — accelerating both better care and billing extraction.

The AI Equity Divide. A WHO-led initiative (GI-AI4H) and its RISE framework tackle the risk that AI widens global health inequities when governance lags behind deployment.

Governing AI — Local and Professional. Victoria's Department of Health sets top-down standards for AI across public health services, while the American Medical Association champions "augmented intelligence" with clinicians at the centre — two very different models of governance.

Plus: the robots now account for 57% of internet traffic, and a shout-out to Daniel McCabe's impact on Australian digital health.

Resources: AI is taking on antibiotic resistance Link Plasma proteomic signature of the menstrual cycle Link Generalist vs clinical LLMs (OpenEvidence, UpToDate) — NYU study (Vishwanath, Oermann et al.) Link APOLLO healthcare foundation model Link Why AI Will Accelerate Health Care Inflation — David Brailer, Health Affairs Link Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H) and the RISE framework — npj Health Systems Link AI guidance for Victorian Public Health Services — Pulse+IT Link Augmented Intelligence in Medicine — American Medical Association Link Ida Tin — global challenge on continuous hormone monitoring Link

Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.

Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT Follow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+IT Send us your questions [email protected] Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric